Is Airbnb Public Enemy No. 1? New at Reason

New York passed one of the nation's most onerous anti-homesharing laws last year, but residents don't seem to be taking it all that seriously.

There were more than 55,000 Airbnb rentals in the Big Apple on the final night of 2016, the San Francisco–based homesharing service reports, up from about 47,000 on December 31, 2015. That made New York City the world's top Airbnb destination on New Year's Eve, despite the state law that prohibits the advertising of short-term rentals and the threat of $7,500 fines.

It was a fitting end to 2016, writes Eric Boehm. It was a year that saw more people than ever before using homesharing applications such as Airbnb and HomeAway, even as many states and cities cracked down on the practice.